Idiom idiom
polish off
Meaning
To finish completely, especially a food (polish the plate with one's tongue) or liquor.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He polished off the whole pizza in ten minutes.”
“After the long hike, the kids polished off their sandwiches and asked for more.”
“The guests had polished off the last of the wine by midnight, leaving only empty bottles and scattered corks on the terrace.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026